Bedspring adapters for bedsteads



Oct. 4, 1955 c. HARR|S l 2,719,309

BEDSFRING ADAPTERS FOR BEDSTEADS Filed Feb. 25, 1954 y 2 Sheets-Sheet l I9/ I f2 I 40 INVENTog: 35 CUIZJQ//ZS c. HARRIS 2,719,399

BEDSPRING ADAPTERS FOR BEDSTEADS Oct. 4, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 25, 1954 States Patent O BEDSPRING ADAPTERS FOR BEDSTEADS Carl Harris, Harvey, Ill.

Application February 23, 1954, Serial No. 411,684

2 Claims. (Cl. 5-296) My invention relates to end-pieces of bedsteads, and more particularly to means for connecting the bed rails to them. While in some instances both wooden bedsteads and spring unitssuch as boxsprings or bedsprings-are manufactured fully by one company, it has become the practice of some furniture companies to manufacture wooden bedsteads alone, while other companies manufacture the spring units to be used in conjunction with such bedsteads. Unfortunately, end-pieces of bedsteads do not have a uniform standard of width, so that when the bed rails are assembled with the endpieces into a bedstead unit the space between the bed rails is usually substantially wider than a spring unit intended to lit the bedstead. More specifically, the posts of the bed end-pieces are made with vertical slots where they face the correspondingly located ends of the bed rails and hook plates carried by such ends for insertion in the slots. Thus, a bedstead set. up in this manner would allow the spring unit to fall through, and it is the practice of furniture dealers to span the bed rails with a number of wood or steel slats in order to procure a support for the spring unit. This practice requires the cutting of the slats to lengths suitable for tting the bed rails of each bedstead. While this method furnishes the required support for the spring unit, the latter remains spaced between the bed rails and forms a hump or bulge in the sides of the bedspread. In view of this situation, it is one object of the present invention to eliminate the slats and the nuisance of altering the same every time a bedstead is assembled, and to provide an 'adapter designed for attachment to the posts of a bed end-piece and suitable for the application of wood or steel bed rails with a number of lateral adjustments in order to fit the proper springV unit closely at the sides and form an adequate support for the same.

A further object is to design an adapter of the type mentioned which, by virtue of the fact that bothsides of the total length of the springy unit have been given support by resting fully on the total length and width of the horizontal flange of the bed rail, provides a strong and firm foundation for such unit.

A further object is to design an adapter of the type mentioned which, by eliminating the space between the side of the spring unit and the vertical flange of the bed rail, due to the variation in width of the bedsteads, prevents an accumulation of dust and dirt which usually develops in such space.

A further object is to design an adapter of the type mentioned which permits the bed rails to be fitted snugly against the side and along the bottom of the spring unit, thereby imparting a smooth and trim appearance to the bed when it is made and a bedspread is applied to cover the bedding, preventing the bulging of the bedspread at the points where the vertical sections of the bedspread cover the bed rails.

A further object is to design an adapter of the type mentioned which carries its own hook plates for direct application to the end-piece slots, and forms a support for special hook plates extended from the bed rails.

Another object is to construct the adapter with a traw verse series of receptacles to which the special hook plates are selectively applicable.

An additional object is to provide an adapter which creates both a positive and xed connection between the bed rails and the bedstead end-piece when the proper application of the special hook plates has been made, so that the bedstead becomes put together rigidly.

A still further object is to design they adapter along lines of sturdiness and with a face plate which stabilizesA the position of the adapter in relation to the endfpiece corner post to which the adapter is applied.

An important object is tof construct the noveladapter along lines of simplicity and in a one-piece assembly.

With the above. objects in view, a better understanding of the invention may be had by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fi-g. 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, showing the adapter fitted to an end-piece post andk about to receive the special hook plate of a bed rail;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, showing a portion of the end-piece by means of dotted lines; and.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the bed rail u assembled with the adapter.

In accordance with the foregoing, specific reference to the drawings indicates one bed or side rail-in the pres-y ent case a. steel rail-of a typical bedstead at. 10, suchV rail being of angle form opening upwardly, and with the upstanding flange 12 on the outside. A pair of bed rails serve as side supports for a conventional bedspring, box-` and aredesigned tof bel engaged by hook plates at the' corresponding ends of the bed rails when the latter arey assembled with the end-pieces.

Specifically,V the adapter is a channel-shaped piece 25',l the'wings 26r and 27 thereof being directed at` right angles tov the base. The adapter is designedy to be positioned. vertically, as shown in Fig. l, and its-wing 26- which'is much shorter thany its wing 2'7-is applicablev directlyto the inner face of the post 18 on the-related side of the bedstead end-piece 16. It is seen in- Fig. 2 that the wing 26.,of the adapter spansV the post slot 19 equally on both sides; and such wing, madewith a ver tical perforation through which a standard hook plate 32 extends into the slot 19. Inwardly of the wing 26, the hook plate takes an outward offset 34 to form a base 35; and such base is secured to the adapter base 25 by a pair of rivets 36.

For the purpose of the present invention, the ends of each bed rail 10 receive a special hook plate 40. The latter is preferably secured on the outside of the rail flange 12 by a pair of rivets 41. The hooks 43 of the plate 40 are arranged similarly to that of the standard hook plate 32, but made much shorter; and the notches 44 of the hooks are positioned vertically and slightly tapered toward their inner ends.

The special hook plates 40 are designed for application to the wings 27 of the related adapters 25. Fig. 3 shows that each wing 27 is made with a pair of vertically spaced rectangular openings 46; and the floors of these openings are cut with teeth dening a horizontal series of receptacles 48. When a pair of bed rails 10 are applied to the bedstead end-piece carrying a pair of The bedpostsY 18` the adapters, the hook plates 40 of the bed rails are moved in a left-hand direction from the position shown in Fig. 1 to engage the hooks 43 in such receptacles 43 as occur opposite them. It is understood that the bed rails are spaced according to the bedspring or mattress unit which they are intended to receive. Due to this spacing, the special hook plates 40 endwise of the bed rails will only it a set of the receptacles 48 as occur opposite them. Since each adapter has a set of four receptacles-shown full size in the drawings-it is evident that each special hook plate has a leeway of approximately one and ve-eighths inches for lateral placement, so that for both bed rails the leeway will be in excess of three inches, which has been found to be an extremely wide variation between the spacing of bed rails and that of the receiving slots in bedstead end-pieces.

It is desirable to have the maximum width of a given bed rail assembly not exceed that of the bedstead endpieces. Thus, as suggested in Fig. 3, finely-dotted lines represent the maximum width placement of the hook plates 40, that is, for the widest bed rail assemblies; and long dotted lines in the same ligure show the placement of a bed rail assembly whose hook plates 40 are more closely spaced, so that the adjustment always is in an inward direction.

It is to be noted that the stock of the wings 27 surrounding the hook-receiving openings 46 has the eifect of absorbing part of the load to which the notched (48) bottom walls of openings 46 are subjected. Also, the top walls of the openings 46 are so spaced from the loadreceiving bottom walls as to admit of shifting of the hooks 43 from one notch 48 to another while the hooks 40 remain in the openings 46. Furthermore, the top wall of each opening 46 serves as a stop to indicate when the hooks 43 have been cleared from a notch 48.

It is now apparent that the novel adapter has a number of advantageous features. First, it eliminates the need of slats in assembling spring units with bedsteads. Further, it requires no change or special fastening means for adaptation to the bedstead end-pieces, since the adapter carries a standard hook plate. Further, the adapter seats flatly against the bedpost to which it applies in view of the balanced application of the wing 26 to the slot 19 of the bedpost. Further, the adapter makes it possible to make up bedsteads from any end-pieces and spring units selected or available and insure the proper lit of the spring unit between the bed rails. Further, the hook plate 32 of the adapter is reinforced by its oset 34 and secured to the adapter on the inside, where its position is concealed. Further, the channeled form of the adapter and its heavy construction make it a. rigid adjunct for the bedpost. Further, the selective adjusting feature of the receptacles 48 is contained in the sturdy adapter wing 27 and requires no extra parts in order to receive the hook plates of the bed rails. Further, the adjustment makes it feasible to assemble the end-pieces with the bed rails Very quickly in view of the flexibility of the adapters, as previously mentioned. Finally, it is apparent that the adapter is a sturdy, onepiece article, a supply of which may be kept in stock or readiness in furniture stores or warehouses for use in the expeditious assembling of bedsteads.

While I have described the invention along specific lines, various minor changes or renernents may be made therein without departing from its principle, and I reserve the right to employ all such changes and refinements as may come within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An adapter for connecting a bed rail to a vertically slotted upstanding end-piece of a bedstead and comprising in combination, a substantially channel-form member providing a bight portion at its outer end and spacedly opposed inwardly extending walls, one wall having a closed transverse slot therein and arranged for flat contact against said end-piece with its slot aligned with said end-piece slot, a hook plate extending through said wall slot and having an outer hook portion projectable into said end-piece slot to engage the usual cross pin means therein and draw said slotted wall against said end-piece, the inner portion of said hook plate having an offset seating against the bight portion of said member and secured to the latter, the other wall of said member providing closed longitudinally extending rail hookreceiving slot means, the latter providing rail hooksustaining lower wall means for supporting a rail hook at a plurality of positions in the direction of the length of said slot means without removal of the rail hook therefrom, and the wall stock surrounding said slot means reinforcing the load-supporting lower wall of said slot means.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, said lower wall means of said longitudinally extending slot means being spaced from the upper slot wall a distance greater than the depthwise dimension of rail carried hooks, said lower wall means providing laterally spaced rail hook seating notches, and the wall of the slot means serving as a stop for the rail carried hook when the latter is being lifted preparatory to shifting from one notch to another.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 651,723 Pease June 12, 1900 826,040 Livelsberger July 17, 1906 1,551,984 Dyke Sept. l, 1925 2,311,111 Kelly Feb. 16, 1943 2,530,640 Wickman Nov. 21, 1950 2,572,271 Harris Nov. 13, 1951 2,582,035 Hill Jan. 8, 1952 2,666,215 Harris Jan. 19, 1954 

